Chiesa di San Michele in Bosco

San Michele in Bosco is a former Olivetan monastery on a hill above Bologna, known for its Renaissance art, cloisters and long history of religious, military and medical use.

Why it matters

The complex is one of Bologna's oldest hillside religious settlements. Olivetan monks developed it as a significant artistic centre, commissioning work associated with Giorgio Vasari and Ludovico Carracci. After Napoleonic suppression, the monastery became barracks and a prison, then a residence and, from 1896, the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute.

What to notice

The former refectory preserves Vasari's Last Supper, while fresco cycles by Ludovico Carracci and his pupils survive in the cloisters. The corridor known as 'il Cannocchiale' creates an optical alignment with the Torre degli Asinelli. The churchyard overlooks Bologna and the plain; the grounds below preserve mature trees and the character of the former monastic landscape.

Context and history

A community of hermits preceded the monastery, which expanded from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. The complex was suppressed in 1798 and used for military purposes before becoming a prison. In 1896, the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute was founded here with a bequest from surgeon Francesco Rizzoli. Olivetan monks returned to officiate in the church in 1933 and remain associated with it.